Books to Music: Once On This Island

The hopes that make us happy
The hopes that don't come true
And all the love
There ever was

I see this all in you
You are part
Part of the Human heart

Yesterday I reviewed the book this musical is based on - "My Love, My Love or The Peasant Girl" - and I decided to read the book because I had heard of this musical and was eager to give it a listen.  The Little Mermaid connection did help!  The book is short, and this musical is also - it's a one act show. And I found that many of the songs tell the story because this musical appears to be mostly sung through.  Although I don't mind songs that tell the story they are usually not my favorite - at least they are not songs that I listen to over and over again.

From the song lyrics, it sounds like the musical is pretty faithful to the book.  But I did find that Daniel's unfaithfulness to Ti Moune had a bit more of a kick, because he tries to tell her that it could never have worked out, and in the book, Daniel was never so blunt.  His feelings about how their relationship might have gone seemed a little more open. The music in this show is beautiful and has lovely Caribbean rhythms and harmonies that showcase the life and community of the peasants. The show is exuberant, and dreamy and tragic, but I did find the change to the ending much more heartening than the ending of the book, so that the musical still maintained that sense of hope that the main character always held dear.

Song Spotlight:  Waiting for Life
I could only find the original actress who portrayed Ti Moune, La Chanze, singing this song on the Rosie O'Donnell show, so the song is a little stripped down, and the wonderful harmonies in the end are gone, but the song is still beautifully sung on the show.  It's about Ti Moune, dreaming about seeing more of life and especially getting to ride in the wonderful cars she sees going past her village.  She's so bright and full of hope in this song and the lyrics and music support that.  I love especially how much belting she does at the end of some verses, she makes it seem so effortless!  For me, this is the best song in the show!